"The stars may fall and the world may end, but the last oreo is mine to eat." – an avid gamer.

***

“SORA!” A large man, over six foot tall with a muscular build called out. “OYE! SORA!!”

“Akiko…I don’t think we will find him here…” Another man standing next to the big man said. “He must be practicing diligently with the other students…”

Both men were clad in a Karategi / martial arts uniform.

“Hpmh! Like hell he’s practicing! Have you ever seen him practice, Yamada?” Akiko

“He….” Yamada fell silent. To the best of his memory he could not ever recollect his student practicing with the others.

“So, why are we looking here?” Yamada asked carefully as he looked around in the storeroom.

“Because that lazy … rat…is somewhere here…I know it.” Akiko said as they made their way into the storeroom.

“Master Akiko, I must say you are always too harsh on Sora…I believe the boy is only eight years old. Surely, you can’t expect him to follow your strict regime?”

Akiko looked down at Yamada who was barely reaching his shoulder. “Heh.” He said scornfully.

“Yamada, sure is delusional about some of the students…” he whispered into the air.

“What?” Yamda asked. He was certain Akiko said something displeasing about him.

“Nothing…” Akiko said as he tried to brush away the question.

“SORAAA!” Akiko called out again, this time more loudly than before. “I am going to kill you when I find you!”

“Ha! Like I would like to be found if I know you are going to kill me!” Came back a childish reply.

Akiko and Yamada’s ears stood up upon hearing Sora’s voice. The brat it seemed to be hiding in the far end of the room.

Akiko looked at Yamada and nodded. The two split up and took different ways. They planned on cornering Sora making sure he had no way to escape when they confronted him.

Yamada felt sorry for Sora. He knew Akiko was a strict instructor and there was no chance of escaping now. ‘You should have just kept quiet Sora-chan.’ Yamada thought to himself as he slowly advanced to where they heard Sora shouting out from.

“Akiko Sensei, you will never find me!” Sora teased from his hiding spot.

Akiko walked stealthily on his tip toes as he gleefully made his made to the earthen wares section in the store room; from one of these pots Sora’s voice was coming. Akiko carefully examined each pot, they were big enough for a child of Sora’s size to fit in. However, Akiko couldn’t be too rushed, each pot was carefully crafted by the Headmaster of the dojo.

‘Brat! You are so dead! This time even the headmaster won’t forgive you! Hiding in his hand sculpted pots is a crime!’ Akiko said as Yamada secured the only exit.

“Akiko Sensei must be near by! He smells so bad! Fat and Ugly!” Sora shouted.

As he did so, Akiko lost his cool and smashed the earthen pot in which Sora hid…only to find a recorder inside.

Before, either Akiko or Yamada knew what happened there was a flash of light and the doors to the store room shut with a loud thud.

Akiko rushed to exit but the door was locked shut. No matter how much he fisted it, it was not going to budge.

“Hehehe…” Sora childishly laughed on the other side as he put away his camera.

“TRY GETTING OUT OF THIS ONE!” Sora taunted his teachers from the other side of the door.

“That was brilliantly done.”

“I know! Right!” Sora quickly agreed with the person standing behind him.

“Who did you manage to trap?” The person asked.

“Akiko Sensei!” Sora proudly replied as he stuck his ear to the door to figure out what was going on inside.

“A Sensei? You might get in trouble. Shouldn’t you let them out?” The person behind him asked.

“Eh? Why?” Sora asked angrily as he realized the person standing behind him was not a student.

There was an elderly gentleman whom he had never met before.

Sora let out a sigh of relief; for a moment he thought he had been caught up the headmaster or another sensei.

“It will be okay.” Sora replied.

“Will it?” The man asked Sora.

Sora thought about it for a while. “Hopefully.”

“What if a fire started?” The man continued to question the child in front of him. It seemed to amuse him.

“Then I will let them out?” Sora replied earnestly.

“But, if you stand here, won’t you be caught by someone else?”

“You are right…” Sora said as he thought about the situation carefully. What the man in front of him said did make complete sense.

“Now, how about letting them out?” The man suggested as he watched Sora cutely ponder over his dilemma.

“No!” Sora replied back immediately.

“Why?” The man was surprised by the child’s quick and anger filled reply.

“Cause they make me do boring practice.” Sora reply.

“How old are you?” The man asked suspiciously.

“Eight….”

‘This child is truly a devious brat…’ The man thought as he wondered how he could get Sora to do the right thing without scolding him.

“But you know practice is very important. You must train regularly….”

“I know!” Sora said as he had an idea. “You stand here! And I’ll go!”

With that said, Sora ran off.

The man was kept staring at Sora as he ran off. He was left in a daze.

“HEY!! SORA!! LET US OUT OF HERE! I PROMISE YOU CHOCOLATE!” Akiko shouted out on the other side of the door.

His loud words brought the man on the other side back to reality. ‘I should let them out.’

As the man opened the door, Akiko charged full on at the stranger thinking it was Sora.

Realizing the dangerous intent of Akiko, the man took a step back and stuck out his leg. He successfully trip Akiko who was running and then grabbed the falling Akiko’s hand and flipped him on his back.

“Ah! I am terribly sorry!” The man apologized as he realized he reacted out of reflex.

Akiko looked at the man who was older than hi, maybe as old as the headmaster, who had just flipped him as if he weighed nothing.

Yamada who watched the whole thing happen in front of him could not believe it.

Akiko was a fairly big man, weighing easily 100 Kgs. The man on the other side was no more than five feet something….and fairly aged….yet this thin man just flipped Akiko like he weighed nothing.

“Ahn Hyundo?” Another person called out to the ‘fairly aged’ man.

“Hiromasa?” Ahn Hyundo called out in a familiar voice.

“Akiko?” Hiromasa asked with a puzzled looked on his face. As he tried to figure out why was his friend tackling one of his teachers.

“Headmaster!” Akiko said as bent his neck backward while lying down.

“I am so sorry!” Ahn Hyundo replied as he got off Akiko.

“I am truly sorry!” Ahn Hyundo repeated as he bowed to both Akiko and his friend Hiromasa.

“No I am sure you had reasons!” Hiromasa said as he stopped his friend from apologizing.

“Master!” Akiko called out. He seemed as if he were going to cry.

The headmaster seemed to be ignoring Akiko and greeting his friend.

“Did you just get here?”

“Yes.” Ahn Hyundo replied.

“Master!”

The two seemed to be ignoring Akiko and were lost in their world; reminiscing about their good old days.

“Master!!” Akiko cried out again, he seemed hurt that his teacher was ignoring him.

“What?” Hiromasa asked while completely annoyed. He was just so happy

“Please assign another teacher for that child!” Akiko said as he bowed with tears dripping from his eyes.

“That child again?” Hiromasa asked while remembering the headache that Sora had been giving him.

Akiko nodded vigorously.

“What happened this time?” The headmaster, Hiromasa, asked.

“He got us to break your pot!” Akiko said while continuing to bow. He was too frightened to look up and face his master’s wrath.

“Pot?” Hiromasa’s face turned white as a bedsheet.

“Pot?” He repeated himself as if he heard a ghost.

“Yes, master.” Akiko said.

“You broke my pot?” Hiromasa asked in a queer voice.

“No….it was Sora…” Akiko defended himself as he looked at Yamada for help.

However, Yamada clearly felt it was Akiko’s own fault for losing his cool.

“Sora made me do it!” Akiko stammered as he could feel the killer gaze of the headmasteron his neck. “That boy is nothing but trouble!”

Before Hiromasa could explode, Ahn Hyundo intervened.

“Would it be alright, if I took that child under my wing?” Ahn Hyundo asked. He saw it was the best way to avoid an ill result.

Hiromasa stopped short of exploding and looked at Ahn Hyundo as if he had just become his saviour.

“Are you certain?” Hiromasa asked as he looked at his friend as his saviour.

“Yes, absolutely.” Ahn Hyundo replied.

Hiromasa was doubtful of his friend’s commitment. “You do know he is a troublemaker?” Hiromasa confirmed as he found it difficult to believe his luck could be so good.

“Yes, I witnessed it first hand myself.” Ahn Hyundo confessed. More than a trouble maker he found the child very interesting and hence didn’t mind devoting some time to that child.

“But you are here for a short while…” Hiromasa reminded him.

“One year is a long time…I might think of this as a way to pay of my rent for staying with you.” Ahn Hyundo joked. Ahn Hyundo didn’t mind taking the child under his wing. He was here on a vacation and this child could provide him the distraction he needed.

“Then it is settled.” Hiromasa said. “Sora will be placed under your guidance.”

Akiko looked on in disbelief as the conversation transpired.

‘The brat got away again!’